Congress is likely to clear its position on the vexed issue of Telangana soon, as a view is firming up in the party that dragging on with the separate statehood demand will be detrimental to its interests.
In an embarrassment to the Congress, 10 party members of Parliament from Telangana region in Andhra Pradesh, who have tendered their resignation on the separate statehood issue, on Monday stayed away from Parliament on the opening day of the monsoon session.
Congress on Wednesday downplayed the defiance by Y S Jaganmohan Reddy who resumed his 'yatra', saying it was not worried by the issue related to "one MP" who could be indulging in "childish behaviour".
"Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy is a man with vision. His service to mankind is what basically attracted me towards him and also the Congress," Raja said in an exclusive chat with PTI on Sunday. The actor said the Congress government's welfare schemes, particularly in health care and education also drew him towards the party.
Amid continuing protests over the creation of a separate Telangana state, Union ministers from the Seema-Andhra region met Congress President Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi and expressed the "sense of deprivation" prevailing in Andhra and Rayalseema regions.
The fund would be on the lines of Member of Parliament Local Area Development fund.
Praja Rajyam Party chief Chiranjeevi today strongly refuted reports that his party has merged with Congress, saying it was only a "media creation".
For the Congress government in Andhra Pradesh the ongoing crisis in Telangana will not end with granting statehood. The decision on making Hyderabad a common capital or Union Territory will be a crucial one if it wants to retain power in the state, reports Vicky Nanjappa.
Jaganmohan Reddy's resignation from the Congress has had Andhra Pradesh buzzing. Ambatti Ram Babu, one of his closest aides, who has been at logger heads with the Congress for quite sometime, says that the resignation was prompted due to a 'betrayal by the Congress'.
The Congress may stand a better chance in the assembly polls if it followed the 'Himachal model', suggests N Sathiya Moorthy.
The YSR Congress is all set to wrest power in Andhra Pradesh, with the party on course to secure a landslide win, leaving the ruling Telugu Desam Party way behind in the assembly elections.
Renowned Telangana folk singer and balladeer Gaddar, who was popularly known for his revolutionary songs during the 1980s and later during the Telangana statehood agitation, passed away in Hyderabad on Sunday due to ill-health. He was 77.
In switching over, Nitish has sent out a message that if he could not now become the NDA's PM, then he would need to stay on as CM at the very least, which a third term for Modi would not let him have, N Sathiya Moorthy points out.
Consolidating its position, the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested high-profile Rampur and Azamgarh Lok Sabha seats in Uttar Pradesh from the Samajwadi Party and won three assembly seats, including that of Chief Minister Manik Saha, in Tripura in by-election results announced on Sunday.
In acute embarrassment to the Congress party and Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy in Andhra Pradesh, supporters of rebel leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy caused the defeat of a Congress candidate in the elections to the legislative council.
United Muslim Action Committee, an umbrella of more than a dozen Muslim organisations of Andhra Pradesh, on Wednesday declared an all-out war against ruling Congress party, specially Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy.
The 77-year-old was recently diagnosed with pneumonia and was admitted to the hospital, where he died at 1.28 am, a Congress leader said.
Extending its winning run in the south, the Congress on Sunday won 64 assembly seats to form government in the Bharat Rashtra Samiti-dominated Telangana, with the southern solace coming in the midst of a saffron sweep of the Hindi heartland where the Bharatiya Janata Party wrested two states from the grand old party and retained one.
The humiliation for the Telugu Desam Party was such that it could cross the double digit in only five urban local bodies while other opposition parties Bharatiya Janata Party and Jana Sena Partymade little gains.
Praja Rajyam Party president K Chiranjeevi has totally ruled out the question of merging his 15-month-old outfit with the ruling Congress in Andhra Pradesh.
According to insiders, their lack of enthusiasm is showing on the ground. There is nothing to suggest that their enthusiasm will return in the final four phases of polling, observes N Sathiya Moorthy.
Saturday's voting will mark the end to the marathon polling process that began on April 19 month and has already covered 486 Lok Sabha seats in 28 states and Union territories.
'In Western UP, last time a lot of Dalits voted for the BJP.' 'This time, there is a rethink among Dalits about the extent of their support for the BJP.'
It is early to make out which way the wind is blowing, but there is no denying that challenges for the BJP, far outweigh the advantages in this region, notes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
In nearly 100 seats, the BJP stands almost no chance of winning. In 200 seats, it is a direct fight between the BJP and the Congress where the BJP has an upper hand. In 243 seats, the BJP is pitted against regional parties and it is not going to be easy. That is why 400 seats may end up as a pipe dream, states Ramesh Menon, author of Modi Demystified: The Making of a Prime Minister.
Former Congress leader YS Jaganmohan Reddy has began a day-long fast at Jantar Mantar in Delhi in protest against the 'injustice' meted out to Andhra Pradesh in the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal verdict. The former Congress Member of Parliament from Kadapa, who had resigned from the party on November, arrived late on Monday night by a special train along with his supporters and farmers.Sources said the objective of the fast is to highlight farmers' plight.
The Congress government in Andhra Pradesh suffered yet another blow with its Kakinada MLA Dwarampudi Chandrasekhar Reddy formally joining the YSR Congress on Thursday.
Preparing to take office for a record third consecutive term, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday pledged to work with all states, regardless of the party in power, to build a developed India.
Amid speculation that Congress will neutralise the Jagan camp by accomodating some of his loyalists in the new Andhra Pradesh cabinet, the rebel Kadapa MP may find the going tough. For the 38-year-old son of former Chief Minister Y S R Reddy, who has been aspiring to become the CM, the increasing isolation may push him into breaking away from Congress and forming a new party, political analysts feel.
Describing Y S Rajasekhara Reddy as a 'dynamic' chief minister and human being, the Congress on Thursday said his demise was a 'tremendous loss' to the party, which will take very long to come to terms with it. Condoling Reddy's death, Left parties described him the 'popular' chief minister of Andhra Pradesh. "Reddy was the son of the soil and had special concern for the welfare of poor and other weaker sections of the society," the BJP said.
Seeking to buy time, the Congress high command appears to be toying with the idea of having a deputy chief minister and Pradesh Congress Committee chief in Andhra Pradesh from Telangana region amid a growing clamour for a separate state
Singh stressed on discipline and unity in the party.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Tuesday dared Telangana Rashtra Samiti chief K Chandrasekhar Rao to topple the state government.
Flaying the United Progressive Alliance government for its 'unilateral' decision on the bifurcation of Andhra Pradesh, Telugu Desam Party President N Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday said the Congress is not in a position to convince its members on the tumultuous issue of "equal justice" for people of Telangana as well as Seemandhra.
Telangana Rashtra Samithi president K Chandrasekhar Rao on Sunday evening spurned the Congress offer on alliance for Andhra Pradesh Legislative Council polls.
The talks between the ruling Congress party and the Praja Rajyam Party for a tie-up for the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation on Monday suffered a major setback.
Gadikota Srikanth Reddy, Congress MLA from Kadapa in this interview with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, says that it is a wrong image that is being portrayed in the media that the Congress in AP is against Jagan.
Senior Congress leader from Andhra Pradesh, G Venkataswamy, who created a flutter by demanding Congress President Sonia Gandhi's resignation as party president, on Wednesday said he is ready to withdraw all his comments.
Though the terms of reference of the committee to look into the creation of a Telangana state may come in the next few days, the Congress is worried about the 'political' price it may have to pay for moving too fast on the statehood issue.
© 2026 Rediff.com - Advertise with us - Disclaimer - Privacy Policy - Sitemap - Feedback - About us - Terms of use - Grievances